Getting started in N scale? Try a module

Three model trains approach a complex three-way junction in a grassy setting

Q: I was wondering, what would be a great way to get started in N scale? I have modeled in HO scale for a while, but I would like to have an N scale layout, since I’m downsizing. What would be some tips and tricks on N scale track and track laying, and what would […]

Read More…

G&W to merge four Southeastern short line railroads into two

Genesee & Wyoming logo

WASHINGTON – Genesee & Wyoming aims to merge four of its Southeastern short lines into two railroads early next year. The largest shortline holding company told regulators on Wednesday that in a pair of transactions it proposes to merge Chattahoochee Bay Railroad into The Bay Line Railroad, and the Fordyce and Princeton Railroad into the […]

Read More…

Year in review: New Amtrak routes, VIA challenges

Passenger train at station next to body of water

Trains News Wire continues our review of the top stories of 2022. We’ll count down the Top 10 stories of the year, as voted on by Trains editors, columnists, and correspondents, beginning Dec. 26. As a prelude, we’ll be looking at major stories that didn’t make that list. Today: Passenger rail. Service expansion, VIA Rail […]

Read More…

Crew members released from hospital, NS line reopened after bridge-beam derailment

Locomotive with nose in air pushed against freight car

COLLEGEDALE, Tenn. — Injured crew members have been released from the hospital and a Norfolk Southern rail line has been reopened after Tuesday’s derailment of a train that hit a 134-foot concrete bridge beam being transported by truck, WRCB-TV reports. The rail line reopened Wednesday morning, while the grade crossing that was the site of […]

Read More…

MTA prepares to award contract for rebuilding Park Avenue Viaduct

A train yard

NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced plans to award a $382 million design-build contract to begin reconstruction of the Park Avenue Viaduct in East Harlem, a project with huge implications for Metro-North commuter train operations. All Metro-North trains to Grand Central Terminal — which represent 98% of all the commuter railroad’s trains […]

Read More…

Canadian railcar manufacturer fined $140,000 over worker death

National Steel Car logo

HAMILTON, Ontario — Railcar manufacturer National Steel Car has been fined C$140,000 in a case involving the death of a crane operator in 2020, Global News reports. A worker later identified by the United Steelworkers Local 7135 as 51-year-old Fraser Cowan was killed in a Sept. 2, 2020, incident in which an object fell on […]

Read More…

San Diego officials seek cost of reopening former SD&AE route

Map of rail line from Tecate, Mexico, to Plaster City, Calif.

SAN DIEGO — Transportation officials in San Diego are studying what it would take to revive operations on a long-dormant 70-mile segment of the former San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway to provide a direct freight link from San Diego to eastern markets, bypassing Los Angeles, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The so-called Desert Line […]

Read More…

Opening delayed for Aventura Brightline station

White and yellow station exterior

AVENTURA, Fla. — Brightline passenger service from the new Aventura station north of Miami, which was slated to begin Wednesday (Dec. 21) after ceremonies Tuesday marking its completion, has been postponed over delays in final construction inspections, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports. Brightline spokeswoman Vanessa Alfonso told the newspaper the issue involved the stations’s elevator […]

Read More…

Metra plans reduced schedules Friday because of winter storm

Commuter train in snow

CHICAGO — Commuter rail operator Metra will operate a modified Saturday schedule on most lines Friday, Dec. 23, as blizzard conditions are forecast for the Chicago area and many commuters will already have begun their Christmas holiday. Regular schedules are planned for today (Thursday, Dec. 22), although passengers are advised to allow extra travel time […]

Read More…

Sound Transit to receive $583 million for light rail projects

Light rail train on bridge

WASHINGTON — Sound Transit will receive $583 million for two of its light rail expansion projects as part of the Fiscal 2023 Omnibus Appropriations bill, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) announced Wednesday. The Federal Way Link extension will receive $329.14 million, while the Lynnwood Link extension will receive $254 million. The Federal Way money means […]

Read More…

Weekly U.S. rail traffic sees big drop

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type, plus intermodal totals

WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic is heading toward the end of the year on a down note, with weekly volume down 5.5% from the same week in 2021, according to the latest statistics from the Association of American Railroads. U.S. railroads moved 476,232 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Dec. 17. That includes […]

Read More…